Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Pushy Penne


Penne is a pushy gal. She is big. She is bold. She loves her food. Her single mindedness about food gets her into a bit of trouble, with me anyway. She doesn't see it as trouble, she sees it as just another obstacle to get to what she wants. Food glorious food. If you have goats you know food pushiness. Now picture that in a huge body. If I am carrying feed she is all over me trying to snatch a bite. I am always having to push her away so I can move forward. She would not be a llama for a first time owner. My friends are scared of her. But I have noticed that a lot of people are scared of my llamas. Something about their eye, they say. And nobody wants to be spit on even though my llamas have never spit on anyone. I think I was spit on only once and that was when I was removing the hair that Penne wanted to hang on to. Now Koo is the total opposite. He is the perfect gentleman. He knows the meaning of "personal space."

I was told when Penne arrived at my house that one of her previous owners (and she's had a few) was sending her to the slaughterhouse and darned if that pushy girl wouldn't get on the truck so they gave up. Her pushiness comes in handy when she needs it the most. I try to remember that. I can't imagine anyone wanting to send her to the slaughterhouse but she may have drove them to it.

Pushy Penne has another annoying habit of pushing on the fences. She has already loosened the wire on my nursery pen from pushing on it. Did I mention Penne is pushy? So I have had to put her in with the goats to keep her from pushing the fences and pushing me around. The first thing Penne did when I put her in with the goats was stand in their water, after I filled it with clean water, dragging dirt and gunk in on her foot. Goats love clean water. They hate it if the dog drinks out of it let alone have a stinky footed llama stand in it. The second thing she did, being that the goat pen is farther away from the food, is do a few body slams to the fences. I heard a distinct crack and sure enough she broke one post off at the ground level. Pushy Penne will have to stay in the goat pen whether she likes it or not. The goats have pushy down to a science so they don't mind, and she has been given the job of protecting the goats. She will just have to get used to it.


My friend won't come feed my animals when I'm gone if she isn't.

15 comments:

Danni said...

Ha ha...stinky-footed llama....I don't blame the goats a bit...fresh water vs. llama soup is always preferred! :-)
Pushy Penne...I'm glad you posted on her, I was wondering how well she had adapted to her new life at your place.
How does your friend feel about donkeys? Does she travel to do animal care? :-)

goatgirl said...

I'd say she has adapted pretty well. She knows where we keep the food. But with any new animal you take in there is usually a reason that people pass them on. Never fear though Penne will stay with us. She is nice to look at.
My friend would do great with donkey's but she doesn't travel. That is one of the hardest parts about farm animals, someone that can handle them when you are gone.
I have, over the years, paid college kids home for the summer that are used to horses and animals to house sit. Just don't get a party girl!

goatgirl said...

donkeys donkey's donkeies...what the heck is it?

Danni said...

I always say "donkeys", but perhaps "donki" is correct. lol

goatgirl said...

lol

CHOCOLATE GIRL said...

I love Pushy Penne's attitude! Don't all of us girls need a bit of attitude!

frugalmom said...

I have to sat that I came by thru way of farmgirl_dk. I had to see the llamas. Pushy Penne is too cute.

goatgirl said...

I guess you're right Chocolate girl. I will look at Penne with new eyes.
Welcome frugalmom. Yes she is cute, I'll give her that. She also has the most incredible texture to her fiber. Which if I were a spinner I could appreciate. Thanks for coming by thru my chicken sis farmgirl.

Anonymous said...

She sounds like some of our goaties;)

goatgirl said...

That's exactly what she's like amy. A big huge goat.

Anonymous said...

Hey Goatgirl,
I would say that Penne's pushy ways came in handy! I am so glad she didn't go to the slaughter house too.
We have a few pushy animals around here so I know how they can wreck a fence.
Surprise! I have a special award for you at my site.

Country Girl said...

I have a friend at work that wants me to take some of her llamas. She has 9 she is looking to find good homes for. John will not for for it, so sad! That is too funny she is retaliating against being cooped up with the goats.

goatgirl said...

gafarmwoman, Thanks for the award. You are very kind. Your blog is definitely one of my favorite stops!

countrygirl, I do like the llamas but if I were to do it over I'd probably just have the one. With that said Penne is here to stay. I just deal with the problem that an animal brings. They do chase stray dogs away and are easy to keep. They fit in well with goats. Both mine are spayed/neutered so they are good companions.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

You know me, I'm so happy when you are posting about your llamas!
Sadly there don't seem to be many blogs with llamas. Wonder why?
I love my llamas!! And I can tell you love yours, too. :)

I'm giggling imaging Pushy Penne standing in the goat's water. She apparently doesn't mind drinking her own llama foot sludge?

Thankfully, our two llamas never seem interested in poking their stinky feet into the water buckets, but they may be a tad bit higher and deeper than yours. When I had lower buckets, the goats were always pooping in them. I keep bricks beside the buckets so that the sheep and goats can step up to drink.

You know what's funny about about a pushy llama? Is that it sort of feels prety cool. Cataleya is also pushy with me, but she only started this over the past few months. Before that she was usually reserved and tended to keep space between us.
Now she lets me hug her, rub her belly, pick up her feet, scratch her cheeks, etc.

It's as if I passed the Llama Sociability Test. I've been accepted. And I do feel honored.

Catlinite is more like Koo. Very reserved and respectful and protective of his personal space.
He'll permit me to scratch his neck and his cheek sometimes, but that's all.

Now, if llamas were like horses, our Pushy Llama Girls would be in serious trouble. Horses are taught from early on to respect a human's space and are disciplined not to ever be pushy.

Of course, horses weigh over a thousand pounds while llamas only weigh in at several hundred pounds.

But several hundred pounds being pushy towards you can still feel like alot.
At least they are soft and fluffy, eh?

goatgirl said...

twinville, Today I brushed Penne all over and fell in love with her again. All that bad stuff was forgotten. She does let me catch her and trim her feet and has the softest fiber....make me want to spin.